Marx's version of Kronosaurus is a rather strange (and innaccurate) depiction of this animal.
Not a dinosaur, Kronosaurus was actually a marine reptile known as a Pliosaur, a family of prehistoric marine reptiles that
included other creatures such as Brachauchenius and Leiopleurodon (of Walking With Dinosaurs fame). The Pliosaurs,
large reptiles with short necks and long skulls, belonged to the order Plesiosauria.
Kronosaurus was discovered in 1889 by a William Haslam Thomas in Queensland, Australia. It
was named in 1899 by A. Crombie. The animal "was described
by Dr. Longman, then Director of the Australian Museum, who assessed it as an ichthyosaur, but following the discovery of
other fragments he corrected his diagnosis in 1924." Longman named the creature Kronosaurus, after the Greek god, Kronos
the Titan.
Now, as you can see from the picture of the Marx Kronosaurus, the neck is most definitely
not short. We probably have our pal Rudy Zallinger to thank for this, for as with many other Marx figures in the
prehistoric line, Krono is probably influenced by Zallinger's artwork. Kronosaurus appeared in Zallinger's painting done for
the Time Life book The World We Live in (ca. 1955) with a long neck and, for a Pliosaur at least, a stubby head.
This resulted in a figure that could much more easily pass for the Plesiosaur Cryptoclidus,
or maybe Macroplata (or any number of other, longer necked plesiosaurs). Why Zallinger painted the Kronosaurus
the way he did is a mystery to many...
Still, Kronosaurus is a well done figure (which goes without saying for all Marx figures).
He is stationery, however; no movement is indicated in the pose of this figure. He's just sort of "standing" on his flippers
here. I suppose there wasn't much of a way to make him look like he was swimming (MPC later copied this figure and seemed
to attempt a "swimming" pose, however--but it turned out looking more like he was walking).
Nonetheless, I have always held the Marx Krono near and dear to my heart. Probably has to
do with growing up in the pre-Jurassic Park Days...and with Zallinger's animals ingrained in my brain. They were
the first pictures I ever saw of most of these creatures, after all (yep, I am a nostalgic sap).
